Going to Brazil
5.1.3.
Sugar cane fields were in flames when we arrived in Piracicaba, a town then of 250,000 people, about 300 km northwest of Sao Paulo. While burning facilitates the harvesting of sugar cane (as it strips its leaves), it also produces more carbon dioxide than all the fossil fuel burned in the Kingdom of Denmark. Black ashes floated in the air for most of the year. Situated amidst huge sugar cane plantations, this small town is on a river, and it is host to Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, which in 1974 was well supported by the IAEA, in the hopes that radioisotopes would enhance the productivity of Brazilian agriculture. CENA ultimately became a magnet for many talented people interested in agriculture and ecology. Henrique Bergamin (Berga), my Brazilian counterpart, rented us a neat little row house which he owned. It had a swimming pool the size of a large bath tub. Our German friends, the Schaefer family (We knew them from Copenhagen, where our children had attended the same school) arranged for us to purchase a Volkswagen – a near miracle, as there was a three month waiting list even for a “diplomat.” Yes, this is relevant to the FIA story, since without the Schaefer family living in Campinas, 100 km away, I would have not been able to do any experiments at all. The problem was that although CENA had good buildings and facilities, everything was designed for plant studies, biology, and etymology with a bit of radioactivity. The closest to any sort of chemistry were soil and plant studies, but there were no chemical or analytical labs on the premises. Berga, my official counterpart, a truly enjoyable and talented person, was a professor at the Piracicaba branch of the University of Sao Paulo, but he seldom came to CENA. I was given a corner of an entirely bare lab space that belonged to a scientist who did not welcome my presence. I was also told that they did not need a radiochemist and that IAEA should be responsible for buying equipment for me. Fortunately, Berga kindly sponsored our membership in a local tennis and swimming club. Thus, I had plenty of time to work on my backhand, and to attend numerous social events with my family who truly enjoyed all this.
